Police Commissioner defends decision to join Buju Banton on stage

Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith says he has taken note of those criticizing his decision to appear onstage with reggae artiste Buju Banton at Sunday's “I am Legend Concert.”

In a statement, Griffith said he was invited onstage by Buju Banton following their discussion on Saturday night, where the Commissioner met with the artiste in a bid to clear up any misunderstanding following the search of his room by police officers.

The Commissioner of Police said the search of Buju ’s room, where nothing was found, was set to cause a major rift between this country and Jamaica.

He said this search occurred as a result of poor procedure by certain officers of the Police Service and hence, the TTPS may have been directly responsible for such a rift.

Commissioner Griffith says his appearance on stage was a demonstration of patriotism.

‘To those who do not understand the acceptance of responsibility and patriotism, had I not done this, relations between both countries could have been severely affected; possible boycotts of our products and other private sector sanctions were also on the table.”

The statement added that the Commissioner demonstrated the principled actions of accepting responsibility and putting country before self by meeting with Buju Banton, his team and a representative of the Jamaican High Commission on Saturday night.

Commissioner Griffith added he did what was needed to be done.

“If my actions affected some but it helped bridge the gap between our country and a close ally Jamaica, then I feel sorry for those who I may have hurt, however, I did what was needed to be done. In fact, I did not put myself on stage; Buju requested it.”

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